


Losing a Tail

by RobinsSpell



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:28:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23879182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinsSpell/pseuds/RobinsSpell
Summary: From behind an alleyway, he could see a brunette peeking around the corner from the corner of his eye. Ren Amamiya had caught her on many occasions like this, but this time, he’d have a little fun with it.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Niijima Makoto, Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto, Niijima Makoto/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 8
Kudos: 115





	Losing a Tail

“Hey, don’t look now, but she’s following us again.”

The words of his cat did nothing to slow Ren Amamiya’s gait. He was making his way down Central Street in Shibuya and his cat had noticed a certain Makoto Niijima hot on their tail. This was the fourth time a certain brown-nosing student council president had decided to “tail” him. He didn’t have to look over his shoulder to know she was several paces behind him, trying to stay discrete with her nose buried in this week’s copy of some manga magazine. It only served to make her all that more obviously suspicious, but he couldn’t help but chuckle at the attempt the first time he noticed.

“Hey, don’t ignore me!” Yelped Morgana, the black cat riding along in his bag. “Just because we’ve stolen Madarame’s treasure doesn’t mean we can afford to take it easy!”

“Relax, with her sleuthing skills, she’ll never get anything out of me,” Ren whispered back, confident in his proficiency. “What do you say we have a little fun with her this time, maybe clue her in that following us is a waste of her time?” Ren finally stopped in front of the movie theater at the end of the street, looking to figure out what was playing.

“How’s a movie going to help us?”

“Oh, you’ll see.” Ren finally found what he was looking for. There was a showing for a movie called Black Lotus that was scheduled to start in about 20 minutes. He’d seen a trailer for it the other night and it seemed interesting; it was the story of an undercover cop infiltrating a Chinese Triad with the goal of destroying it from the inside. The trailer looked fantastic and he was captivated by the main character’s double life, so he resolved to check it out as soon as he had some time. He pulled out his phone and pointed it behind him, trying to check the reflection. Niijima-senpai was still behind him, but a Black Lotus poster had caught her attention. “Let’s see if she takes the bait,” thought Ren as he got in line at the ticket counter. Sure enough, she queued up as well, just a few people behind him. Taking out his phone again to look at her, he could swear he saw a small glint in her eye. Was she actually interested in movies like this?

“One ticket for the next showing of Black Lotus, please.” Ren got his ticket and made his way deeper into the theater, taking care to go slow so his follower wouldn’t lose him. He glanced at the concession stand, but decided against buying any snacks. “Is she behind us, Morgana?” He asked his cat to play lookout this time, feeling a little tired of angling his phone juuuuust right to spot her.

“She’s caught up to us now!” Announced Morgana. “Wow, she’s really gripping her ticket, did you know she would be into this?”

“Not in the slightest. I would have never expected her to be excited for something like this,” said Ren, as he found the theater he was looking for. He opened the door, and held it for just a second before entering. It was just enough time for Niijima to catch the door for herself.

—-

“Wait, did he...?” Makoto was settling into her seat as she contemplated what had just transpired. Today was day four of tailing Ren Amamiya, the mysterious transfer student with a criminal record. He had gotten into a mess with Kamoshida, their school’s former PE teacher, as soon as he arrived, being threatened with expulsion, but ultimately concluding with the teacher turning himself in for his admitted depravity. Principal Kobayakawa had thought this whole affair fishy and ordered her to investigate the “Phantom Thieves of Hearts,” the culprits who claimed credit for reforming Kamoshida. She had found it awfully flaky of the principal to push this duty on her, but with a letter of recommendation on the line, she felt she had no choice but to accept.

Reviewing the facts, she found it incredibly suspiscious that Ren Amamiya, Ryuji Sakamoto and Ann Takamaki, all three of them victims of Kamoshida, had formed a close-knit group almost immediately after the teacher’s departure. She had confronted the trio once before, but to no avail, so she decided to be sneakier about gathering information. She had spent a day each tailing Sakamoto and Takamaki, but quickly deduced that they weren’t worth pursuing for information; Sakamoto had a habit of idling away his free time and Takamaki was often busy with her modeling job, so she settled on Amamiya. He had no set schedule for his life; he always seemed like he was doing something different every day. In no particular order, she had caught him working part time jobs at the Triple-Seven and the Beef Bowl shop in Shibuya, working out at the gym in Shibuya, he was a frequent customer at a shady looking shop in a back alley, and she found him studying at Shujin’s library a couple of times. She couldn’t get a good read on the boy, so she continued to follow. Fortunately for her, he seemed to never notice her around, making it all the easier for her to gather info.

Today brought her quarry, and herself, to the movie theater in Shibuya, which was showing Black Lotus, a movie she had wanted to see. She hadn’t made any plans to go see it, as her sister was always busy and she herself was always doing some kind of work for school, so following him into this theater seemed like a good way to kill two birds with one stone. She was definitely excited to spend a few hours enjoying a movie, so much so that she almost completely missed that Amamiya had paused before entering the theater, almost as if he were holding the door for her.

“He couldn’t have caught on, could he...?” Pondered the brunette as a trailer for an upcoming Yakuza flick played.

——

“Never. Again.” Moaned Morgana as Ren sat in his seat, contemplating the film as the credits rolled and the rest of the theater filed out. He had felt a real sense of determination from the movie’s protagonist; thinking he could learn a lot from how carefully he juggled his lives in Hong Kong’s criminal underworld and its police force. He felt his own courage growing, inspired by the thin line the hero walked at every step.

“You didn’t enjoy the movie?” Asked Ren, as he looked down at his bag, his cat retreating inside.

“The story was great, but it was so gratuitous, I think I’m scarred for life.” Complained the feline. “Did he have to kill everyone in the most gruesome way possible? I’ve never seen so many chunks of faces flying everywhere like that!”

“It was a little gratuitous, but I think it was a good way to show how horrifying the criminal underworld really is.” Replied Ren as he started to get up. Lifting his bag and turning to leave, he took a quick glimpse around the theater. Niijima-senpai had been sitting a few rows above where he had been, looking completely enraptured by the show. She was perched at the edge of her seat, and were those nail marks he spied on her palm? She seemed to enjoy the show at least, he thought to himself as he walked out the theater. “Wanna grab a bite to eat, Morgana?” He asked his cat as they greeted the crisp night air.

——

She was so captivated by the movie that she nearly forgot about her mark. Two and a half hours passed in the blink of an eye as she was drawn further and further into the tale of an undercover cop. She nearly screamed as the film drew to its climax and she bore witness to the fate of the hero’s best friend. The end of the credits snapped her back to reality as she noticed a fluffly mop of messy black hair leaving the theater.

“Crap, I can’t lose focus now!” She gathered her belongings and walked out of the building, looking to find her target and making a mental note to buy the movie on blu-ray in a few months’ time. She quickly spotted him halfway across Central street, giving chase once again. “Now where are you off to, Amamiya-san...”

He stopped walking to stare at a building close to the entrance of the street. “The diner?” Thought Makoto. “I guess its not unreasonable to be hungry after a movie,” she mumbled to herself, suddenly aware of her own hunger. “Maybe I’ll grab a bite too.” She gave him a few minutes’ headstart before entering the establishment herself, grabbing a booth that allowed her to watch him with ease. He was hard at work, going over homework problems. His pencil was flying down the pages of his notebook; if nothing else, she was impressed with his dilligence. It was not long before a salisbury steak was brought to his table, along with a small mug. Her stomach growled at the sight of it. “Where’s the waitress? Shouldn’t she have come to take my order by now?” Wondered Makoto as an identical plate was placed in front of her.

“Here you go, miss!” Chirped the waitress.

“But I didn’t order-“ Makoto began to protest, before being stopped by the waitress.

“Your friend is awfully kind to order you a plate for you, you should go thank him!”

“My- what?” Makoto was confused before it clicked. Ren had ordered for her. “I’m sorry, could you take my plate to his table, I’d like to have a word with him.”

“Certainly!”

——

“You’re such a gentleman, Ren,” teased Morgana as he watched a waitress serve a piping hot salisbury steak to Niijima’s table.

“What can I say? These steaks always make me feel generous.” Said Ren as he finished another problem.

“Hey, heads up, she’s coming!” Yelped Morgana as he ducked back into Ren’s bag. Ren stopped mid-pen stroke. He wasn’t expecting Niijima-senpai to confront him directly. He looked up and saw her sliding into the booth, opposite him as the waitress placed her steak back in front of her.

“Thank you, miss.” Bowed Niijima-senpai as the waitress left. After the waitress had gotten a good distance away, she turned back to him. “Ha ha, very funny. What’s your game?” Her brow furrowed as she glared at him. He definitely wasn’t expecting this.

“I thought you’d be hungry?” Offered Ren, quizzically.

“And how did you know I would be here?”

“Call it a hunch,” Ren replied, beginning to give his steak some attention. “Have you tried the steak here? It’s just wonderful!” He exclaimed, cheerfully taking a bite of his dinner.

“Don’t change the subject on me!”

“I mean, I’m usually kind of hungry after watching a movie, so I figured you would be too.”

“But how did you-“ She stopped mid-sentence as she thought about his statement. Did he know she was following him? She could feel herself growing flush.

“You’re not as good at this tailing thing as you think you are, Niijima-senpai,” said Ren between forkfuls of steak.

“W-what do you mean?” Her glare had eroded and been replaced with a look of pure embarassment.

“That manga magazine you were trying to hide behind is cute, but it makes you stick out like a sore thumb,” teased Ren.

“C-cute?” Stammered the girl. “But I don’t understand, are you really ok with having someone follow you like this?” she sighed, defeated.

“No, but you seemed lonely and looked like you were having fun.”  
“Excuse me?”

“I’ve seen you around at school, you’re always by yourself. Even when you’re working with the student council, they never stick around after the work’s done.” He paused to take a sip of his coffee. “This stuff’s definitely not as good as Sojiro’s...” he mumbled, before continuing. “I’ve heard the whispers in the library, too.” She shied away slightly as he mentioned this. “I’ve heard a lot about the ‘student council president who’s too good for anyone,’ ‘the girl who’s kissing up to the teachers just to get into a great school,’” she looked away as he went on. “I’ll admit, I bought into them for a day or two. There was something really intimidating about you at that reading table.”

“But then, why?” Asked his senpai. “If you believed the rumors, what made you change your mind about me?”  
“Well, for starters, I realized it was your massive ocean of textbooks and notebooks that was intimidating,” smirked Ren. He hoped the joke would lighten the atmosphere a little, and it seemed to work, as he saw a slight smile forming upon his senpai’s face. “I had a session with Dr. Maruki not too long ago and it got me thinking about a lot of things...” Now that the girl across from him was looking less like a wounded puppy, he decided he should get to the point. “And I realized that I’m the last person who should be buying into rumors.”

The girl laughed. “You do have a point. Some of the things the other students say about you are just absurd.”

“Aren’t they?” Ren nodded in agreement. “It’s sick how little they can think of people!” He winced, remembering some of the nastier rumors he’d heard. “I thought back to how I felt in my first few weeks here, when all I’d hear were whispers about how the transfer student’s a depraved psychopath, how he’d carry a knife around for kicks and how he’d stalked girls back home; I hated it all.” He took his glasses off and set them aside, feeling his eyes start to water. “Eventually, I learned to ignore it all and brush it off, but I caught myself believing the ones I’d heard about you when I caught you following me to Triple-Seven and the gym a few nights ago. When I realized what I was doing, I felt sick.”

“Amamiya...” Niijima looked at him sympathetically.

“I decided I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, so I wanted a chance to get to know you a little better.”

“You didn’t have to buy me dinner though!” She protested.

“No, but I thought it’d be a great way to break the ice.”

She chuckled at that. “Well, you’ve got me there. At least allow me to pay you back,” said Niijima-senpai, as she reached into her bag.

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Ren waved his hand at her, “I got paid yesterday so its no big deal. You probably saw the rush of people at the Beef Bowl shop, didn’t you?” He laughed, recalling yesterday’s dinner hour. 

“That was truly something,” she admitted, allowing herself to smile. “I must say, you’re quite bold to be doing this.”

“What can I say, when there’s a will, there’s a Wei.” Ren shrugged as his senpai groaned. “What, not a fan of puns?” Smirked Ren.

“Well, I suppose I shouldn’t let your generosity go to waste,” said Niijima as she finally turned her attention to her meal, Ren re-seating his glasses on the bridge of his nose. “I really am surprised you went through the trouble though. Do you not find me annoying like your friends do?”

“Ann and Ryuji?” asked Ren, his senpai nodding as she took a bite. “They have their reasons, I’m sure, but I wanted to form my own opinions.”

“I suppose that’s fair,” she smiled.

“Well, since you’re here, would you like to do some studying?” Ren offered, picking his pencil back up and cracking open his notebook. “Sometimes I study at home, but I like to come to this diner to study too. Its nice and quiet, especially on rainy days, there are free drink refills and best of all, there’s no gossip!” Ren was positively beaming about that last point.

“I suppose I’ll take you up on that, since you’re so enthusiastic about it,” said his senpai as she reached into her bag to pull out her books. A thick magazine caught Ren’s eye as she did so, much to her seeming chagrin.

“I don’t suppose you’ve read that magazine, have you?” Laughed Ren, as Niijima turned slightly redder.

——

“That was surprisingly productive,” said Makoto to her underclassman as the two of them left the diner. “I might just come back here on my own to study if I’m feeling hungry.”

“Heh, well be sure to watch your wallet. The food’s not too expensive, but it does add up.” Smirked Amamiya. “I need to get going now, its getting late and I told my guardian that I’d be back before 9.”

“Alright then, I should be heading home as well.”

“We should do this again, Niijima-senpai.”

“W-what?” She was not expecting him to be so forward.

“I had fun today and I feel like I understand you a little better, so I’d enjoy another day like this sometime, if you’re willing.”

“I-I’ll have to think about it,” she stammered. Mentally, she did not oppose the idea of spending more time with her newfound friend, but...

...Did she just think of him as a friend? She did enjoy their study session, once she allowed herself to get into it, and she enjoyed discussing the movie with him.

“Oh, and you don’t have to bring your manga next time, we can just go together.” Said Ren. She had to chuckle at that.

“Very well then, next time we’re both available, how about we come here and study again?”

“Sounds like a plan! Alright, see you later, Niijima-senpai!”

“Good bye, Amamiya-san.”

——

“Hey hey hey, what was that!?” Demanded Morgana as Ren descended the stairs down into Shibuya station, far from his senpai. “I thought you were going to shake her off our tail, not make friends!”

“It’ll be easier to make sure she can’t pry too much into the Phantom Thieves if she trusts me,” responded Ren.

“Oh, I see, ‘keep your friends close, but your enemies closer,’ right?” Nodded Morgana. “It all makes sense now, you were definitely the right choice to lead our group!”

“Something like that...” Ren trailed off as he took in his cat’s idiom. He didn’t really consider his senpai an enemy, and he did want to get closer to her after being charmed by her lacking attempts at sneakiness. If nothing else, he figured staying on her good side would dissuade her from investigating him any further. “I do want to be friends with her, though...”

“Come again?” Asked Morgana.

“Nothing, let’s hurry back so we can finish Bubbly Hills.”


End file.
